My dog has quite a soft stool and way too much flatulence Would suplamenting his regular food (Kirklands) with pumpkin puree help this? I used to do that when he was a pup. I'd rather not have to switch to another food, but this doesn't seem to be reacting with his stomach very well.

Hi, my lab Halo has had chronic loose stool issues due to her food allergies. She has settled nicely on Wellness fish and sweet potato food, but it did result in the loose stool issue. Knowing I had tried (with my vet's help) many brands of food and this one works best to avoid the rash issues, I addressed the stool issue by feeding her pumpkin. It has very nicely solved the issue. She used to go five or six times a day and now goes twice and her stool is way firmer - still not hard, but much better. The pumpkin really helped with her. It was also suggested to me that I might have been feeding her too much, but I don't believe that was our issue as she was within the feeding guidelines. Anyhow, I'd try the pumpkin. PS Halo loves it and I don't have to put expensive canned food on top of her dry as a treat anymore - an added bonus!

I agree...you should figure out what causes the problem. Do you give a lot of treats?

Gabby has a very sensitive stomach. She gets Nutro Ultra Adult dry and Nutro Natural Choice wet, and this works well for her, but we have to be careful with giving her new types of treats and/or bites of people food. New treats give her terrible gas and loose stools. Anything dairy is also really bad.

My parents gave her several treats she had never had before this past Saturday morning and she had epic gas all day!

I have a 9 (almost 10) month old Australian cattle dog. The only treats I give are the training aid type (mostly cut up, dried out weiners) and I don't even give many of those, only when he's extra special. Otherwise he gets praise

Kirklands seems to have introduced a new puppy formula (I noticed the different packaging) but he's on the adult type.

His stool has always been a little softer than I'd like. And it's not always the same consistancy. The worst it gets is when we've been out running and he suddenly stops to poop. Maybe the exercise clears out his bowls or something. It wouldn't be a problem but when this happens and I pick it up, it always leaves a smear on the grass, which I dislike.

first five for the dogfood are:
Chicken, chicken meal, whole grain brown rice, cracked pearled barley, and chicken fat. I give him the recommended 2 cups/day. Maybe a little less.

As for the treats, they're just weiners, so snouts and hooves and probaly way too many preservatives... Actually, his latest supply came from a bison sausage, I don't actually eat weiners if I can get away from it. Anyways, he probably only gets 1/4 of a weiner or less a day, so I don't think that could affect his diet too much.

I cut the meat into pieces about a 1/4 inch in diameter and microwave them. Works really well. First time I did that to a weiner it was sickening. It just puffed up and tasted like dust. There must be more filler than there is meat in those things.

We all know that but did you have to say it right before barbq season starts? lol I thought you meant Snausages or something. Has anybody asked how long the stool has been soft? It's more likely to be allergies if it's been more than two weeks or so.

Interseting, he doesn't show any other signs of allergies. His stool has been softer than I'd like ever since he was a puppy. The only time it wasn't was when he was on Wellness puppy formula. Unfortunatly, I can't afford that as his main food source, but I'll check to see what ingrediants differ, so I have some place to start.

Most times a "too soft" stool is a product of something the dog is eating. If you try cutting out the treats, you can use his kibble as treats. Just give him one bit at a time for training and he'll think it's something special!

If his stool gets better, after cutting out the treats, then you know the cause and can adjust accordingly. If his stool is still soft, then you may want to try mixing in a better quality dog food. Not every dog can eat the (upper end) of the regular priced foods. Some dogs will forever be on more expensive food, as the ingredients are better quality and easily digested. He may have very a very sensitive digestive system and can't handle less than prime food.

What kind of doggy is this? I ask because a guy at our park had a german shepherd who had diarrhea from the day he was born. This guy wasn't too bright and I told him to get blood tests to see if it was a genetic disorder affecting his stomach (GSDs have a long list of possible stomach ailments as do a lot of other doggies), but he just kept switching the food. The dog would end up ok for a couple of weeks and then it would start all over again... But if your guy did well on the wellness, it might just be an allergy.

If it is really chronic, it can be a sign of a lot of things. One of them is allergies. Usually the first thing you do with chronic allergies is change the food to a food with little to no ingredients that are the same as the old food and try it for about 3 months and see if the stools get better.

Maybe I am wrong, but fibre should not affect the water absorption in the colon, it would just affect the frequency of 'dumps' and the quantity of them. If the loose stool is really because of the cookies, is the stool solid on days where the doggy doesn't get any? (He could also be allergic to the cookies...)

My dog is weird. He will get loose stools for no aparent reason. At least one a day is looser then the rest. He gets a fish based food, and veggie cookies, and sometimes fish treats (like wellness whitefish and sweetpotato cookies). He also gets carrot sticks and brocolli, and beets and peas and bananas. I was trying to see if there is a pattern but there isn't. He can have turkey with no ill effects, as well as lamb and rice. He doesn't get loose stools with new foods, it's all random. That's why I was considering getting allergy testing for him.

The only thing that is consistant is his regular food, unless he is allergic to something in that.

new to this community. . .my dog, a german shepherd mix (w/ rotweiler? doberman? lab?) about 11 months old, 60 lbs--orig from a shelter but we got him from craigslist.com-- has loose stool, goes about 4x/day. we've had him now almost a month. he gets a good amount of exercise, runs at least 1 mile/day, and tends to go when he's exercising. we feed him flint river food (flintriver.com, 1st few ingredients: Chicken Meal, Whole Wheat Flour, Ground Rice, Lamb Meal, Poultry Fat (Preserved with Tocopherols and Ascorbic Acid), Ground Whole Wheat), lately with a little cooked rice. we've been switching treats for awhile, trying lots of different ones including string cheese and liver treats--might that be the problem? i've been reading these posts. . .very informative. vet recently said he's healthy. lots of energry and upbeat. not sure if i need to take him to the vet w/ stool sample to fix this, or if i can just try the pumpkin method or plain or no treats for awhile first? maybe should try other flint river food, trout and potato? ingredients: Trout, Potato, Course Ground Millet, Herring Meal, Oatmeal, Sweet Potatoes, Canola Oil, (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Flax Seed, Oat Bran. any thoughts greatly appreciated. . .

could be a food sensativity, alo did you tke a fecal sample to the vet??

you need to do that to rule out parasites.

i had similar issues with my guy and the vet determined he was sensative to chicken.

Eleni

__________________
"I used to look at [my dog] Smokey and think, 'If you were a little smarter you could tell me what you were thinking,' and he'd look at me like he was saying, 'If you were a little smarter, I wouldn't have to.'" - Fred Jungclaus

With german sheps you have to be careful because their list of gastro intestinal genetic diseases is almost the longest of any breed. You'd have to do a full blood work up to be sure what the problem is, if it's not helped by changing foods. Usually the first stool of the day is firm and then every one after that is soft if there is a problem. (Makes sense since the colon works all night on the first stool and then a coupld hours on the subsequent ones)

I do notice that your food has a lot of wheat in it. That could be a cause too. Wheat is a common food allergen in doggies. I would give the trout and potato a try.

Both my dogs, corgi and springer spaniel, have developed loose stools. That can be a very messy problem on a tailless corgi. At the same time, both have taken to eating the new spring grass. I've started adding pumpkin, with mixed results.

I wonder, is the grass causing the problem? In that case, is this just going to be a seasonal thing? There's no chemicals on the grass, and it usually browns out by late July here.

Both my dogs, corgi and springer spaniel, have developed loose stools. That can be a very messy problem on a tailless corgi. At the same time, both have taken to eating the new spring grass. I've started adding pumpkin, with mixed results.

I wonder, is the grass causing the problem? In that case, is this just going to be a seasonal thing? There's no chemicals on the grass, and it usually browns out by late July here.

Julia

Hi and welcome to the board sofapup.

Wow--this is a very old thread but in any event, I too have a springer spaniel that recently had issues with stools, (loose and eating them. ).

While our Gryphon is like a grazing cow eating the young grass, we did switch his his diet in April. Stools are much firmer not to mention only once a day and he stopped eating them as well.

As the new food is a Limited Ingredient Diet (L.I.D), our vet recommended to reduce his intake as well as he became slightly overweight with this new higher protein/less filler diet.

The L.I.D is a bit more expensive but in the long run, it less mess to clean, he's not further eating his stools and also lesser quantity then the old food.

Hope this helps and we would love to see pictures of your furbabies.

__________________
A dog wags his tail with his heart
Dogs have Masters--Cats have Staff

Thank you, klmccallum, for the welcome. I'm glad I caught your attention with an old thread It does seem to be an eternal question. My two pups graze like cows, the little one even pauses in a game of fetch to lie down and have a snack. But a messy corgi bottom is a REALLY big annoyance. The springer spaniel at least can physically deal with it. Or cover it with his tail.

I am new to this site so I hope you can help me. I have a 13 month old cocker spaniel that has had loose stools off and on for weeks. We've been to the vet twice and have had the stool tested. Everthing checked out OK. As long as she is on the meds, the stool is normal. We feed Blue Buffalo both kibble & dry along with yogurt and boiled chicken....occasionally. Her treats are BB too, plus some organic and some I dehydrate myself. The first stool in the morning is usually firm, then continues to get softer as the day goes on. She eats, drinks and plays normally and seems to be fine other than the loose stool. Nothing has changed in her diet except "bully sticks". Do you think this could be an issue? I've heard using pumpkin could help. How much and how often? Anyother ideas?

Welcome to the board mybestfriends. Sorry you pup is having these issues. I'm not sure about the protein content in BB, but I found when my two older dogs were on a very high protein diet this caused loose stools for them. Also anything that was too oily would cause this also. I've never given mine bully sticks so I can't comment on that, not sure how oily they are. Something else to consider even with good food is that if you are feeding too much food you will get soft stools. You may want to try just reducing her food by a small amount and see if it helps. Pumpkin (100% pure, not pumpkin pie filling) does work for loose stools or constipation. You can give a tablespoon with each meal. My lab will eat it plain though. That said, while it is a great tool for fixing up the occasional upset, it should not be used until you are certain there are no underlying issues causing the upset. You don't want to hide a medical condition with pumpkin. Good luck to you.

Zoey, my cocker has been on Blue Buffalo for 10 months. We never had problems with the loose stool until the last few weeks. I just started giving her boiled/baked chicken with her kibble and canned. I wonder if the chicken could be to oily for her system? I'm going back to the start and use only kibble and canned. I will add the pumpkin if things don't improve in a couple of days. I'm taking the bully sticks away too. If the stool firms up, I'll try adding the chicken back into her diet. If Zoey does OK, I'll add the bully sticks. Hopefully, one of these are the problem. Always looking for help with my 4-legged friends.